The Conscience of the King
' |image= |series= |production=6149-13 |producer(s)= |story= |script=Barry Trivers |director=Gerd Oswald |imdbref=tt0394903 |guests=Arnold Moss as Anton Karidian, Barbara Anderson as Lenore Karidian, , William Sargent as Dr. Thomas Leighton, Natile Norwick as Martha Leighton, Bruce Hyde as Kevin Thomas Riley, Eddie Paskey as Mr. Leslie |previous_production=Miri |next_production=The Galileo Seven |episode=TOS S01E13 |airdate=8 December 1966 |previous_release=The Menagerie Part 2 |next_release=Balance of Terror |story_date(s)=2817.6-2825.3 (2266) |previous_story=Miri |next_story=The Galileo Seven }} Summary Kirk receives a message, summoning the Enterprise to the home of Dr. Thomas Leighton, a brilliant research scientist whom Kirk knew many years before. The summons is a trick to lure the captain to planet Q, so that he could see, and meet, actor Anton Karidian. Leighton thinks that Karidian is actually Kodos, the ex-governor of Tarsus IV, who initiated a massacre there that killed the doctor's entire family. When Leighton is killed, Kirk investigates, and decides to transport the Karidian troupe on the Enterprise, so that he can study the enigmatic actor. In an effort to discover the truth, Kirk romances Karidian's daughter Lenore. During the voyage, Lieutenant Kevin Riley, another survivor of the massacre, is poisoned and nearly dies. A phaser explodes, almost killing Kirk and Spock. Riley recognises Karidian as Kodos, but a shocked Kirk discovers the insane murderer of the survivors is Lenore, who accidentally kills her father. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # Lack of available witnesses. The other colonists to survive either died in the interim, had moved too far away, or decided to put the experience behind them. # Kirk's need to verify Kodos’s' identity. The original records could have been non accessible, corrupted, mislaid or deliberately altered. Equipment Oddities # Lenore using a squirt bottle to add poison to Riley's glass. She could have decanted the Tetralubisol into the squirt bottle, in order to carry it in plain sight without making anyone suspicious. Continuity and Production Problems # Numbers appearing on the previously unmarked pipes in Engineering. These were probably added to aid content identification. Internet Movie Database Plot holes # Kirk quarters the actors on his ship, believing the murderer of Dr. Leighton to be among them, with Anton Karidian as the prime suspect. Yet the actors, including Karidian, are apparently allowed to walk about the ship freely, and Lenore is able to walk undetected into sensitive areas and make attempts on the lives of Kevin Riley and Captain James Kirk. Karidian cannot account for his whereabouts during the attempts. If Kirk had assigned surveillance to him when he came on board (as common sense dictates), he would have been cleared of involvement in the attempts. Assigning surveillance to Karidan and the others may have raised their suspicions. Ex Astris Scientia Inconsistencies # Why was the case closed when the body of Kodos was not positively identified? He may have been presumed dead due to the lack of confirmed sightings after the incident. # Why are eyewitnesses, who have briefly seen the man twenty years ago, so crucial to prove that Karidian is Kodos? Wouldn't a thorough investigation of Karidian's past be much more fruitful? Spock's logic that everything that has happened can't be a coincidence may not be court-type evidence, but may suffice to put Karidian on trial. Not necessarily - a good defense attorny would dismiss Spock's assertions as circumstantial. Wiki Users Plot Holes # Lostinbooks - 16 May 2018 Why doesn't Karidian disappear after being killed by the phaser? Seniram 10:40, May 17, 2018 (UTC) The phaser was obviously set high enough to kill him, but low enough to avoid the body being vaporised. Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan on Wednesday, April 14, 1999 - 11:12 am: What about Kirk's brother Sam as a witness? He is/was older than Kirk, and may not have been on Tarsus when the massacre occurred. # Kirk asks the computer for a comparison of Kodos and Karidian, but it says that there are no identity records. Then Kirk has the computer bring up pictures of Kodos and Karidian. Why doesn't the computer consider pictures to be identity records? There would have to be detailed written information attached to the image files, as opposed to just the file name. # Why can't the computer compare the picture images for similarities? This may not be possible, especially as one image is face on, while the other is taken from an angle. # The computer later comes up with a voice print of Kodos, so why wasn't that considered an identity record? See my comment above regarding the lack of information attached to the files. # Riley has food in Engineering. Doesn't this ship have some kind of Dining Room? Kirk may have arranged for Riley to have food brought to him, rather than risk Riley being attacked while going between the dining room and Engineering. Jesse on Thursday, April 24, 2008 - 11:37 pm: The reason why Riley is eating in the engine room is because he's on duty down there. He can't leave his post, but I'm sure he's entitled to a lunch break plus a couple smaller breaks, like most states in the US require. In this situation, since he's the only guy there, it makes sense that he has to take a "working" lunch. # Stephen on Friday, September 17, 1999 - 12:23 pm: What happened to Lenore's mom? Todd Pence on Friday, September 17, 1999 - 1:57 pm: She probably didn't measure up to hubby's standards of genetic perfection ("Sorry, honey, it's all for the good of the colony . . .") Category:The Original Series Category:Episodes